Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener discretion advised. It is
Speaker 1: September eleventh, seventeen seventy seven, and a soldier fighting in
Speaker 1: the American Revolutionary War is setting off valiantly into battle
Speaker 1: on Brandywine Creek, about thirty miles southwest of Philadelphia. It's
Speaker 1: a foggy day, but that's not the source of the
Speaker 1: smoke in the man's eyes and nose. The British musket
Speaker 1: balls are flying towards him. Gunpowder erupts everywhere around him.
Speaker 1: Somewhere behind he has left General George Washington. This soldier
Speaker 1: is only twenty years old, and this is his very
Speaker 1: first battle of the war. He has come to the
Speaker 1: army from a great distance away, guided by one goal
Speaker 1: to help secure America's freedom. But right now, as the
Speaker 1: smoke is filling his lungs, his one goal has changed slightly.
Speaker 1: Right now he needs to rally the beleaguered American troops
Speaker 1: against the British in order to stop the British from
Speaker 1: advancing to the capitol in Philadelphia. He also wants to
Speaker 1: stay alive. When the soldier opens his mouth, to speak,
Speaker 1: perhaps to inspire his fellow soldiers. He has a very
Speaker 1: unusual accent, the accent of French nobility. This man, fighting
Speaker 1: in the Continental army of the American Revolution is the
Speaker 1: Marquis de Lafayette. You may know him from lin Manuel
Speaker 1: Miranda's hit musical Hamilton, in which he's described as America's
Speaker 1: favorite fighting Frenchman. That description is exactly right throughout him life.
Speaker 1: Lafayette loved America in ways that would almost certainly embarrass
Speaker 1: any self respecting Frenchman today. He named his son George Washington.
Speaker 1: He kept a gold plated copy of the Declaration of
Speaker 1: Independence in his house in France. He helped recruit the
Speaker 1: French king to fight against the British monarchy on the
Speaker 1: American side. And yet Lafayette's time during the American Revolution
Speaker 1: is only one half of the story. The other half
Speaker 1: happens when he goes back to France afterward, intending to
Speaker 1: spread American democratic ideas, where he encountered instead a bloodthirsty
Speaker 1: mob dead set against an internal rather than external enemy.
Speaker 1: The story of the Marquis de Lafayette is the story
Speaker 1: of a bone deep commitment to democracy, even when that
Speaker 1: democracy was deeply flawed. It's the story of the differences
Speaker 1: between two revolutions, and it's the story of that brave,
Speaker 1: determined Frenchman who ran straight into the heats of the
Speaker 1: Battle of Brandywine with a bullet headed straight for him.
Speaker 1: I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. Preemptive apologies
Speaker 1: for this pronunciation. But the man named Marie Joseph Paul
Speaker 1: Eves Rouche Gilbert de Montier, better known as the Marquis
Speaker 1: de Lafayette, was born in the south of France on
Speaker 1: September sixth, seventeen fifty seven. If all of those names
Speaker 1: sound like a mouthful, Lafayette himself would have agreed. I
Speaker 1: was baptized like a Spaniard, he wrote later in his memoir,
Speaker 1: with the name of every conceivable saint who might offer
Speaker 1: me more in battle. It was true that his family
Speaker 1: needed wartime protection. They had a long and frightening tendency
Speaker 1: to die bravely and young on world historical battlefields. In
Speaker 1: Lafayette's ancient noble line, his ancestors had fought beside Joan
Speaker 1: of arc And in the Crusades and in King Louis.
Speaker 1: The fifteenth horse Guard, called the Black musketeers. Lafayette's father
Speaker 1: also fought in the Seven Years War, which would spill
Speaker 1: over into the then American colonies as the French and
Speaker 1: Indian War, and, in keeping with the Lafayette tradition, the
Speaker 1: Marquis de Lafayette's father died in battle one month before
Speaker 1: his young son's second birthday. Lafayette spent much of his
Speaker 1: childhood honing his instinct for courage. You might be familiar
Speaker 1: with the legendary be Beast of Jivan Dun, a mysterious
Speaker 1: creature that tormented the French countryside in the middle of
Speaker 1: the eighteenth century. As many as two hundred people were
Speaker 1: attacked by a mysterious wolf or wolf like animal, whose
Speaker 1: physical characteristics grew in size as the legend around the
Speaker 1: creature grew. To this day, historians aren't sure exactly what
Speaker 1: sort of animal or animals were causing the attacks, but
Speaker 1: whatever it was, it galvanized the French government into action. Nobles,
Speaker 1: royal huntsmen, and professional soldiers all set out to try
Speaker 1: and kill the beast. In fact, multiple people would report
Speaker 1: that they were the one who had successfully killed the animal,
Speaker 1: only for the attacks to continue. Lafayette was eight at
Speaker 1: this time, and rather than hide away inside, as no
Speaker 1: doubt many people were advising children to do with a
Speaker 1: mysterious man killing monster on the loose, Lafayette joined the hunt.
Speaker 1: He never found that first beast he pursued, and he
Speaker 1: was soon beset by a different tragedy. When Lafayette was twelve,
Speaker 1: only ten years after his father died, his mother died too. Listeners,
Speaker 1: here's a heads up. If you know the life story
Speaker 1: of Alexander Hamilton, or if you mostly know Lafayette through
Speaker 1: Lin Manuel Miranda's musical version, then you might notice a
Speaker 1: lot of similarities between Lafayette and Hamilton. Their early orphanhood
Speaker 1: won't be the only similarity you notice, although, one thing
Speaker 1: Lafayette did not have in common with Hamilton was the
Speaker 1: fact that he was born of nobility, and not just
Speaker 1: any nobility. When Lafayette became an orphan, he inherited the
Speaker 1: massive family fortune, so before his thirteenth birthday, Lafayette was
Speaker 1: one of the richest aristocrats in all of Europe. Lafayette
Speaker 1: turned nineteen in seventeen seventy six. Word of the American
Speaker 1: Revolution had reached the fashionable salons of France, and the
Speaker 1: French people were, to say the least, thrilled by it.
Speaker 1: After all, they had lost the Seven Years' War miserably
Speaker 1: to Britain. They had given up their Canadian colonies to
Speaker 1: the British, so they loved the idea of Britain getting
Speaker 1: defeated in the most humiliating way too, by one of
Speaker 1: her own colonies. So Parisians were playing a card game
Speaker 1: called Le Boston, and as we mentioned in an earlier
Speaker 1: episode of this podcast, they were all hoping to catch
Speaker 1: a glimpse of the famous Benjamin Franklin, ambassador from America
Speaker 1: in his famous fur cap, and Lafayette, of the long
Speaker 1: line of courageous, battle hungry nobleman, was personally delighted the
Speaker 1: world was being changed across the sea in America. Lafayette
Speaker 1: believed deeply in fairness, freedom and democracy. Perhaps it's a
Speaker 1: slightly strange system of beliefs for a guy who was
Speaker 1: among the richest noblemen in all of France, but it
Speaker 1: was planted firm as a flag in his heart. My
Speaker 1: heart was enlisted, he wrote, and I thought only of
Speaker 1: joining my colors to those of the revolutionaries. So Lafayette
Speaker 1: decided that he had to get to America he approached
Speaker 1: Silas Dean, who was an envoy from Connecticut in Paris,
Speaker 1: trying to help Franklin recruit French aid to the American cause.
Speaker 1: Lafayette had never in his life been in a battle
Speaker 1: any bigger than hunting a wolf monster that may or
Speaker 1: may not have existed, but nonetheless took a look at
Speaker 1: his money and title and made him major general in
Speaker 1: the Continental Army. Of course, the French government wasn't exactly thrilled.
Speaker 1: The King was tacitly allowing frenchmen to go to the
Speaker 1: aid of America, but he himself was thus far still
Speaker 1: publicly neutral. Lafayette's father in law flat out forbade him
Speaker 1: to go. In seventeen seventy seven, Lafayette was nineteen years
Speaker 1: old and his even younger wife was pregnant again at
Speaker 1: this point with their second child, but that didn't matter
Speaker 1: to Lafayette. In his mind, he was consumed with visions
Speaker 1: of glory on the other shore of the Atlantic, and
Speaker 1: nothing could have gotten in his way. And let's not
Speaker 1: forget he was rich. So he paid for his own ship,
Speaker 1: which he named La Victoire. He snuck out onto it,
Speaker 1: leaving behind a goodbye letter for his father in law.
Speaker 1: In the letter, he sounds exactly like the naive, idealistic,
Speaker 1: over enthusiastic nineteen year old that he was. He wrote, quote,
Speaker 1: you will be astonished, my dear Papa, by what I'm
Speaker 1: about to tell you. I am a general officer in
Speaker 1: the Army of the United States of America. And so
Speaker 1: he set out on a long, extremely seasick, eight week
Speaker 1: journey to the United States, nauseus on the deck, steadfastly
Speaker 1: turning his head toward the distant American shore. He couldn't see.
Speaker 1: The young, inexperienced aristocrat was perhaps a little bit of
Speaker 1: a fool, or perhaps he was about to become, as
Speaker 1: historian Sarah Vowell put it, quote the best friend America
Speaker 1: ever had. The first order of business was to find
Speaker 1: revolutionary America BEA's real best friend, George Washington, the commander
Speaker 1: in chief of the Continental Army. So Lafayette made his
Speaker 1: way to Philadelphia, where he met George Washington at City
Speaker 1: Tavern on July thirty first, seventeen seventy seven, a tavern
Speaker 1: which incidentally is still standing on Second Street in Philadelphia today.
Speaker 1: Lafayette spotted Washington across the crowded room. It was a
Speaker 1: scene straight out of a rom com. Washington stood six
Speaker 1: feet tall, a veritable giant for the era. He was
Speaker 1: forty five years old at this point, an august age
Speaker 1: compared to most of the younger revolutionaries, and Lafayette couldn't
Speaker 1: take his eyes off of him. Lafayette made his way
Speaker 1: to the General across the crowded room and stood before him,
Speaker 1: where the two men sized each other up. Lafayette was
Speaker 1: not de v Diggs, by the way, if that's who picturing.
Speaker 1: He was five nine, notably tall, if not giant for
Speaker 1: the age, and a bit stout with red hair. He
Speaker 1: stood in front of Washington filled with excitement and a
Speaker 1: little bit of fear. Lafayette had boarded his ship in
Speaker 1: France not knowing any English. He had studied the language
Speaker 1: on board, but he worried that his newfound English would falter.
Speaker 1: Now when he was desperate for this commander to like him,
Speaker 1: and as in any good rom come, Washington didn't like him.
Speaker 1: At first. America had been flooded with revolution hungary Frenchmen,
Speaker 1: using the American Revolution as a proxy war to avenge
Speaker 1: France's defeat against the British. Washington was getting sick of them. Nevertheless,
Speaker 1: Lafayette persisted. On September eleventh, seventeen seventy seven, he was
Speaker 1: standing beside George Washington as the Battle of Brandywine raged.
Speaker 1: Thus far, Washington had not allowed Lafayette to fight ever
Speaker 1: since landing in America. It it turned out that Lafayette's
Speaker 1: appointment to major general back in France had been merely ceremonial,
Speaker 1: a way to get his French influence and his money.
Speaker 1: But now the British general Cornwallis was coming across the
Speaker 1: Brandywine Creek, and Lafayette was begging Washington to let him
Speaker 1: into the battle. Washington agreed. Lafayette charged into the fray
Speaker 1: through the mist of the foggy day and the terrible
Speaker 1: smoke of the muskets. Here he was, at last, fighting
Speaker 1: for freedom in what felt to him like the center
Speaker 1: of the world. He would be stopped by nothing now,
Speaker 1: not even a bullet that hit him straight through the leg.
Speaker 1: The musket ball went clear through his left calf, but
Speaker 1: Lafayette kept fighting until the blood was literally pouring from
Speaker 1: his boot. After the battle was done, Washington told the
Speaker 1: doctor to take care of Lafayette as if he were
Speaker 1: Washington's own son. The friendship between the two men was
Speaker 1: set both orphans. Lafayette looked up to Washington like a father,
Speaker 1: and Washington happily took on their role. This was a
Speaker 1: Frenchman dedicated in body and spirit to the American cause.
Speaker 1: As long as you fight, Lafayette wrote to Washington, I
Speaker 1: want to fight along with you after Brandywine. Washington wanted
Speaker 1: Lafayette to do exactly that. He successfully lobbied Congress to
Speaker 1: give Lafayette a real, not ceremonial command. But the battle
Speaker 1: that was the American Revolution wasn't only raging on American shores.
Speaker 1: As we discussed in our episode on Benjamin Franklin, the
Speaker 1: American army was cash strapped and resource strapped, ragtag and
Speaker 1: often undisciplined. So the real battle for Washington was also
Speaker 1: the fight for international aid, specifically from France. So Lafayette
Speaker 1: went back to France on January eleventh, seventeen seventy nine,
Speaker 1: about a year and a half after he had landed
Speaker 1: in America. Technically, Lafayette had disobeyed the French crown by
Speaker 1: going to fight in America, and when he got back
Speaker 1: he was placed under house arrest. But it wasn't really
Speaker 1: that serious, Congress wrote a letter on Lafayette's behalf, addressed
Speaker 1: to quote our great, faithful and beloved friend and ally Louis,
Speaker 1: the sixteenth King of France and Navarre. Obviously they were
Speaker 1: trying to butter Louis up. Congress praised Lafayette for his zeal,
Speaker 1: courage and attachment to the cause of revolution against the British,
Speaker 1: and lo and behold the house. Arrest was short lived.
Speaker 1: Lafayette was thrilled to be reunited with his wife, and
Speaker 1: within the year their first son was born. True to form, ever,
Speaker 1: the enthusiastic son of America, Lafayette named the boy exactly
Speaker 1: what you might expect, George Washington Lafayette. Lafayette spent his
Speaker 1: time in France working to help convince the French to
Speaker 1: send aid to the American war effort. But he couldn't
Speaker 1: stay away from his beloved America for long, not when
Speaker 1: his adoptive country was still in the middle of its
Speaker 1: physical war. So on April twenty eighth, seventeen eighty, he
Speaker 1: docked in Massachusetts and again sought out his beloved George Washington.
Speaker 1: The French, he was happy to report, were sending troops
Speaker 1: six thousand French soldiers would be docking shortly under the
Speaker 1: command of General Rochambeau. We all know now that America
Speaker 1: won the Revolutionary War. Lafayette actually fought alongside Alexander Hamilton
Speaker 1: in its last major land battle, the Battle of Yorktown.
Speaker 1: The American Revolution was over, the British crown was defeated,
Speaker 1: and Lafayette was the most beloved and important Frenchman of
Speaker 1: the entire war. He named his next daughter, Virginia, after
Speaker 1: Washington and Jefferson's beloved home state of Virginia. He was
Speaker 1: the consummate revolutionary. But of course then things got more complicated,
Speaker 1: as real life always does. History rarely fits into stories
Speaker 1: of pure heroism or pure villainy, pure revolutionary or full moderate.
Speaker 1: It's always more complicated than that. And when the French
Speaker 1: Revolution came in seventeen eighty nine, Lafayette had been America's revolutionary,
Speaker 1: but he was revolutionary frances moderate. Yes, he wrote the
Speaker 1: French Declaration of the Rights of Man in consultation with
Speaker 1: Thomas Jefferson, who obviously, you know, was the author of
Speaker 1: the American Declaration of Independence. And yes, he sent the
Speaker 1: key of the infamous Bastille Prison to George Washington in
Speaker 1: Mount Vernon, But in October of seventeen eighty nine he
Speaker 1: also stood on the balcony of Versailles, home of the
Speaker 1: hated King Louis the sixteenth and Marie Antoinette. He stood
Speaker 1: beside the hated queen. The mob below was calling for
Speaker 1: her blood. Lafayette, by then was the head of the
Speaker 1: French National Guard, charged with protecting the beleaguered and reviled
Speaker 1: monarchs in a France full of starving people whose lack
Speaker 1: of representation boiled their blood. Of course, he understood their
Speaker 1: desire for democratic representation for dignity. He was America's great revolutionary,
Speaker 1: after all. He was an abolitionist too, all too aware
Speaker 1: of the abomination of slavery in America where he had
Speaker 1: fought for freedom. Yet the Marquis de Lafayette was also,
Speaker 1: above all, a believer in ordered, fair, free democracy, and
Speaker 1: the anger of the French mob had in his mind
Speaker 1: surpassed reasoned revolution and entered into the pure madness of
Speaker 1: the mob. He had gone back to France intending to
Speaker 1: spread American democratic ideals, but now he was encountering a
Speaker 1: bloodthirsty revolution against an internal rather than external enemy, with
Speaker 1: the heads of innocence on pikes. So the Marquis de
Speaker 1: Lafayette brought Queen Marie Antoinette out to the balcony. The
Speaker 1: French tricolor glistened in his eyes, reminding him, perhaps briefly,
Speaker 1: of the colors of his most beloved home back in
Speaker 1: the United States, and the great hero of the American Revolution,
Speaker 1: the man who had sailed from France to free America
Speaker 1: from that tyrant King George kissed the French Queen's hand.
Speaker 1: Why we could write a whole other podcast or a
Speaker 1: book even about this period of Lafayette's life, But in
Speaker 1: many ways it's the story of the difference between these
Speaker 1: two revolutions. The eighteenth century revolutionary period is not as
Speaker 1: simple as many in America assume. Many of us learn
Speaker 1: the Overied version rather flattering to America. We overthrew our
Speaker 1: subservience to monarchy in the revolution that began in seventeen
Speaker 1: seventy six, and then the French were inspired by us
Speaker 1: and followed suit in their own revolution in seventeen eighty nine.
Speaker 1: But of course the reality is more complicated. You may
Speaker 1: notice that the current government of France is not its
Speaker 1: first republic, as the American system of government is France
Speaker 1: is on its fifth republic. In historian Sarah Vowel's words,
Speaker 1: there were quote decades of instability unleashed by the French
Speaker 1: Revolution as opposed to the governmental continuity spawned by the
Speaker 1: American Revolution. After the French Revolution of seventeen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: of course, Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor not once but twice.
Speaker 1: In between, King Louis the eighteenth was monarch, not once
Speaker 1: but twice. Yette would live through events that are covered
Speaker 1: in another very famous modern Broadway musical, Lame isrob which
Speaker 1: is not actually about the French Revolution of seventeen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: but the Second Revolution of eighteen thirty one. Detail I
Speaker 1: skipped earlier. Lafayette's daughter, Virginny actually had her full name
Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette Virginny. She was named for both the French
Speaker 1: queen and an American state freed from a British king.
Speaker 1: In some ways, that encapsulates Lafayette's entire story. Lafayette was
Speaker 1: simply not revolutionary enough for the French revolutionaries. In seventeen
Speaker 1: ninety two, when he was thirty four, he was jailed
Speaker 1: in Austria. His wife sent their son George Washington to
Speaker 1: safety across the sea, where he stayed at Mount Vernon
Speaker 1: with his godfather, George Washington, by then the President of
Speaker 1: the United States. Lafayette spent five years in prison. Eventually,
Speaker 1: with the help of Napoleon and a little bit of
Speaker 1: American diplomacy, Lafayette was freed in eighteen twenty four at
Speaker 1: the age of sixty six. The Marquis de Lafayette returned
Speaker 1: to America at last. President James Monroe, the fifth President
Speaker 1: of the United States, personally invited him for essentially a
Speaker 1: USA fiftieth Birthday tour. It was like spring break for Lafayette.
Speaker 1: He visited all then twenty four states of the Union,
Speaker 1: and America went wild for him, and he for them.
Speaker 1: He was like a Where's Waldo or Forest Gump of
Speaker 1: early American institutions. He laid the cornerstone for both the
Speaker 1: Brooklyn Public Library and the Monument of Bunker Hill. He
Speaker 1: was there for the infamous election of eighteen twenty four,
Speaker 1: when neither John Quincy Adams nor Andrew Jackson won enough
Speaker 1: electoral votes to be president, and so the election got
Speaker 1: thrown to the House of Representatives. He was in the
Speaker 1: room where loser Jackson Shook winner John Quincy Adams hand
Speaker 1: Lafayette had towns, schools, and endless American children named after him.
Speaker 1: But this triumphant trip would be Lafayette's last visit to America.
Speaker 1: He returned to France and died ten years later on
Speaker 1: May twentieth, eighteen thirty four, at seventy six years old.
Speaker 1: He was buried in France, but he was the world's
Speaker 1: greatest America file until the very end. His son, George Washington,
Speaker 1: spread soil from Bunker Hill atop his grave. The United
Speaker 1: States House and Senate draped their chambers in black to
Speaker 1: mourn him, and the red, white and blue American flot
Speaker 1: flag was mounted on his final resting site, where it
Speaker 1: remained even through the Nazi occupation of France. The flag
Speaker 1: still flies on his grave to this day. That's the
Speaker 1: story of America's noble revolutionary, the Marquis de Lafayette. But
Speaker 1: stay tuned after a brief sponsor break to hear about
Speaker 1: how Lafayette became an official American Long after he died.
Speaker 1: On August six, two thousand and two, the United States
Speaker 1: Congress passed Public Law one oh seven two nine. This
Speaker 1: was a joint resolution of Congress quote, conferring honorary citizenship
Speaker 1: of the United States posthumously on Marie Joseph Paul Eves Roche,
Speaker 1: Jilbert de Montier, the Marquis de Lafayette. Only seven other
Speaker 1: people in history have ever received the honor of being
Speaker 1: granted posthumous American citizenship, and as of two thousand and two,
Speaker 1: there had only been five people. Winston Churchill, prime Minister
Speaker 1: of the UK during World War II, Raoul Wallenberg, the
Speaker 1: Swede who rescued Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust, William and
Speaker 1: Hannah penn founders of Pennsylvania, and mother Teresa Lafayette was
Speaker 1: the sixth to join that list. The joint resolution cited
Speaker 1: his rank of major general, his wounding in the Battle
Speaker 1: of Brandywine, his voluntary offering of his own money to
Speaker 1: support the cause, and the risk to his own life
Speaker 1: that he undertook in order to fight quote for the
Speaker 1: freedom of Americans. One hundred and sixty eight years after
Speaker 1: his death, Lafayette, who had always so dearly wanted to
Speaker 1: belong in America, finally got his wish. Noble Blood is
Speaker 1: a production of iHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from
Speaker 1: Aaron Manky Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Forts,
Speaker 1: with additional writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zewick,
Speaker 1: Courtney Sender, Julia Milani, and Armand Cassam. The show is
Speaker 1: edited and produced by Noemy Griffin and rima il Kaali,
Speaker 1: with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Mankey,
Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. Four more podcasts from iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
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